Mages aren’t cool enough to adequately deal with twisting all 3 elementals at once.
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Mages do have some useful little tricks, but not enough to make me want to main one.
isnt one getting the power from the world/gods or whatever and the other is using inate abilities?
Very similar to priests and paladins. Priests request the light and paladins are the light.
I’ve always found these kinds of class themes pretty awesome.
Oh my goodness, yes! So many times, YES!!
Shamans really have to ask for their power, who knows if they will get yes for an answer (of course, elements have to say ‘okay’ for gameplay)
Mages literally create the elements they’re casting.
Interesting discussion…I had no idea that fire/frost mages power originated from the arcane. Seems like an interesting lore topic.
Mages control things through mastery and manipulation of mana, primarily through the arcane. Shaman call upon the spiritual living elements inhabiting the world.
But the only mage that uses mana these days is Arcane tho…
I believe there is a bit of misconception here. It depends on the power of the shaman in question. Asking the elements for aid is more a show of respect. Not all shamans do this and they just take the power as they see fit.
From a game perspective, it depends, shaman has strong defensive measures that mages lack. Flame shock means you can’t rely on invisibility so really only have ice block. Mage shields definitely can’t withstand a focused assault, especially if overload starts kicking in.
Now mage vs enhancement shaman, mage loses, hard. Last thing any mage wants is an enhancement shaman glued to them.
Mages dont use earth, wind, or lightning either.
Shaman magic is technically spirit magic. I recall reading, somewhere, that in the lore the four elemental planes used to be all balanced by azeroth’s spirit, but something caused a disconnection there (possibly something to do with the titans or old gods? cant recall) and without ‘spirit’ to balance and temper them the elements went nuts and waged war against each other.
Shamans create bonds with elementals and the elemental planes by utilizing their own spirit to recreate that balance. I wish I could remember the source for this, it was an interesting read.
Mages use arcane magic, and I believe through that are able to control some basic elemental forces. The water elemental mages summon isnt actually a proper elemental, not like what shamans deal with, but is actually a construct - just a glob of water or ice animated by arcane power.
EDIT:
Also there’s a cultural aspect to it. Historically (in wow history, that is), Shamans are spiritual leaders of tribal cultures. Orcs, tauren, trolls, etc. all had shamans as kind of religious leaders. Mages, obviously, are not spiritual in the least and are book-learned casters. Most shamans, because of the cultures they come from, had to know how to fight and had to be physically imposing enough to garner the respect of their tribes, whereas mages are usually scholarly and frail.
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I think it’s really a case by case basis on which one is more powerful. With your average mage vs average shaman, yes, the mage would be more powerful UNLESS the shaman gets direct intervention from the elements he’s calling on. It can flip back and forth pretty easily.
At the upper levels, taking something like the world shaman (previously thrall) against someone like khadgar, it’s anyone’s guess who might win.
There’s also the factor that we’re missing if we’re going a more realistic route. The intimidation factor. When dealing with someone who can literally turn the world around you against you is pretty intimidating and panic casting is a good way to miscast something and have it go off in your face.
Arcane can be turned into Frost of Fire. Arcane in its pure form is technically the most potent of the three. Shamans commune with the elements and nature in some ways the Druids do.
It can be, but is also the most voliatle and difficult to control. Lore-wise, handling arcane directly is like handling a nuke with no shielding, you have to be stupidly powerful to use it without destroying yourself. That’s part of what makes Kadghar so formidable is that he’s one of the few lore mages that can use pure arcane on that level.
However, even he is not immune to having the air he relies on to breath to suddenly not be there, or the air in his lungs suddenly deciding to be water.
Basically this. Mage elements aren’t tied to the elemental planes, they are just conjured versions of the raw element manipulated by arcane magic.
There is actually lore in the game that contradicts this. I forget exactly what it is, but it is a set of diaries in the game for the Kirin Tor Familiar pet where an Archmage discusses that exact topic.
Edit: It is one of the books that spawns in WoTLK Dalaran, can’t remember which one.
mage is much better and more desired in all content.
Elemental shamans have style, and mages do not.
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looks at his content participation history and wonders how he knows, especially since he regularly talks about how how doesnt raid, do m+ or play the game anymore
This is only something that has been the purview of very powerful mages. For example, we see Khadgar utilizing spells that simultaneously have elements of pure Arcane, Fire, and Frost on multiple occasions.
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